COLOMBO, May 31 (Xinhuanet) -- A senior military intelligence officer was shot dead here Tuesday, the police said. The officer identified as Major Mutaliph was shot at while driving to work at south Colombo area of Polhengoda around 7:55 a.m. local time (0155 GMT).

The unidentified assailants were riding a motorcycle when they fired at Mutaliph, said the police. Mutaliph was regarded as an important member of the Sri Lanka Army's intelligence operations against the Tamil Tigers.

Although no one has claimed responsibility, the attack is suspected to be the work of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels. Mutaliph was rushed to a private hospital nearby where he had succumbed to his gun shot wounds.

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Post subject: Tigers all out to eliminate military intelligence

Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2005 1:57 am

Army loses brilliant officerTigers all out to eliminate military intelligence

Major Muthaliff, who was awarded the Rana Wickrama Padakkama (RWP), had also served in Vavuniya and other places in the North, during the war. was married to an Army officer commanding the Army's Women's Brigade and was the father of two children named Sara (09) and Marlik (04).

@ The Island /01 June 2005

In a desperate bid to force the government into implementing the controversial proposed joint mechanism, the LTTE has decided to decimate the Army and Police intelligence services. Yesterday morning (31) they successfully targeted Major Nizam Muthaliff RWP, Officer Commanding the Army's First Intelligence Unit. He was gunned down in broad daylight at Polhengoda, Kirulapone by an LTTE gunman.

The killer had pursued Muthliff's car on a motor cycle ridden by an accomplice, while the Intelligence Officer was on his way to the Kotelawala Defence Academy. Army sources said the LTTE would in the next few weeks attempt to target other intelligence services personnel.

Major Muthaliff (39) was the highest ranking Army Intelligence officer to be killed after the ceasefire agreement came into force two years back. The gunman, using an automatic firearm, had fired nine bullets at Major Muthaliff. Though he was rushed to the Appolo Hospital nearby he was found dead on admission police said.

The assailant is said to have targeted the officer when his car stopped at traffic light signals near the Army Camp and Government Information Department, Polhengoda. The two men who had been following his car on a motor cycle without number plates had fled along Vijaya Kumaratunga Mawatha after shooting him, police said.

Major Muthaliff, who was awarded the Rana Wickrama Padakkama (RWP), had also served in Vavuniya and other places in the North, during the war. was married to an Army officer commanding the Army's Women's Brigade and was the father of two children named Sara (09) and Marlik (04). He joined the Army in 1986 and was regarded as an officer who was dedicated to his duties.

Army sources also said the some LTTE pistol gangs have moved into Colombo after security became lax after the signing the MoU, between the government and the LTTE, thus allowing the day light attack on Major Muthaliff to be made without hindrance. Sources also said the Traffic police, who are usually present at the point where the attack took place had not been present yesterday morning.[/b]

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Post subject: Mutaliff’s assassin held

Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 2:05 am

Mutaliff’s assassin heldTwo Sinhalese among five held

By Hemantha RandunuThe Island / 06JUL2005

Police believe they have made a major breakthrough in their investigations into the recent killing of military intelligence officer Maj. T. Mutaliff. Five suspects including two Sinhalese believed to be involved in the recent assassination of Mutaliff, posthumously promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, were arrested yesterday.

Police claimed that the person who shot the officer dead was among the arrested. Mutaliff was shot dead at Elvitigala Mawatha near Polhengoda junction as he drove to the Kotelawela Defence Academy. A senior CID official last night confirmed the arrest.

Police recovered a T-56 assault rifle, 9m.m. pistol, micro pistol and small consignment of ammunition. Local police said that the arrest of a person living at Bandaragama led to the arrest of three LTTE cadres working at a confectionery at Ratmalana.

Muthalif killing: 4 suspects arrested

DM / 06JUL2005

Four people including three women were arrested in Ratmalana yesterday in connection with the killing of Army Intelligence Chief Tuan Nizam Muthalif last month.

Police said that on a tip off they raided a house near the Ratmalana airport and arrested the four suspects. Two of them are believed to have monitored the movements of Lt. Col. Muthalif who was shot dead by a gunman near the Polhengoda colour lights.The other two suspects are believed to have provided shelter to the two spies.

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Post subject: Ex-Army chief's son in league with Mutalif's killers

Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2005 1:40 am

Ex-Army chief's son in league with Mutalif's killers

by Hemantha RandunuThe Island / 07JUL2005

A senior LTTE cadre and a Sinhala businessman, held in connection with their involvement in the recent assassination of military intelligence officer Lt. Col. T. Mutaliff, under interrogation claimed that they were about to receive vital information on the strength of the Artillery Regiment from an army officer, a senior investigator said.

They identified the officer as the son of a former army commander. The LTTE cadre identified as Rajan and the businessman admitted that they met the officer at a camp at Ratmalana and Minneriya several times over a period of time, the officer said.

According to them, the officer was to receive a sum of Rs. 5 million for passing information. The businessman had charged Rs one million for arranging the deal, the officer said. They were about to conclude the deal with the army officer when Bandaragama police made, what our sources termed, a chance arrest on Tuesday.

Rajan and the businessmen are among five persons arrested on Tuesday in connection with the Mutalif's assassination. With their arrest, police believe they have made a major breakthrough in their investigations into the recent killing. Police claimed that the person who shot the officer dead was among the arrested.

Mutaliff was shot dead at Elvitigala Mawatha, near Polhengoda junction, as he drove to the Kotelawela Defence Academy. Police recovered a T-56 assault rifle, 9m.m. pistol, micro pistol and small consignment of ammunition. Local police said that the arrest of a person living at Bandaragama led to the arrest of three LTTE cadres working at a confectionery in Ratmalana.

The LTTE is alleged to have paid Rs. 50 million to two employees of a Sinhala rag sheet for helping in the pistol gang murder of former Chief of Army Intelligence Lt. Col. T.N. Muthalif, CID sources said yesterday. This was revealed when the suspects involved in the killing were arrested at Ratmalana and Bandaragama. A crack team of detectives led by DIG CID Lionel Goonetilleke is investigating the murder of Lt. Col. Muthalif on May 31.

The rag sheet was reportedly funded by a close associate of a powerful UNP leader. It had carried a malicious publicity campaign against the President and the People's Alliance, sources added. A van carrying the "Press" label used by the workers is reported to have transported the members of the pistol gang to Kilinochchi after they shot dead the Intelligence Chief who had stopped his car at the Kirulapone traffic lights. The van was reported to have made five return trips to Kilinochchi in connection with the killing.

The two Sinhala workers who had allegedly assisted the LTTE pistol gang in the slaying are now in custody with four others. They were arrested at a house in Ratmalana and another at Bandaragama.

Police investigations revealed that after the murder of Rohana Kumara, the newspaper office in which these two Sinhala workers were employed closed down. Then they had obtained employment at biscuit factories. Police said the two Tamil youths arrested at Bandaragama had LTTE identity cards. Investigations are continuing.

Former Army Commander and Chief of Defence Staff Lionel Balagalle said his son had no connection with the suspects involved in killing army intelligence chief Tuan Mutaliff. When contacted for comments on the allegations that his son had abetted the killer suspects, the former Army chief said: "This is mud slinging.

These allegations are baseless. I had instructed my son to give a statement to police in this regard." "One of the suspects by the name Deshapriya, who is now in custody, was known by my son, but my son had nothing to do with their business. I suspect that Deshapriya wanted to show off that he knows big shots in the Army," Balagalle added.

Seven suspects, including a journalist working for a an alternative tabloid published by the UNP, are in remand over the assassination of former army intelligence chief Lt. Col. Mutaliff. The suspect named Deshapriya had divulged to the interrogators that he was a friend of the son of the former army chief.

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Post subject: Lieutenant Colonel Nizam Muthaliff

Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 5:28 pm

Shadow War Comes to Colombo

During his career, Muthaliff received special training in intelligence gathering and special operations at military academies and training centres in several countries, including the United States, Pakistan, and Malaysia. "His selfless dedication for defence of his motherland until last moment of his life would no doubt go in the history [sic] as a true Son of the Soil who safeguarded territorial integrity of the country," an SLA statement said.

POSTHUMOUSLY promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, Nizam Muthaliff, who was shot dead in Colombo on Tuesday, is described as a key member of the Sri Lankan military intelligence's (MI) covert operations against the Liberation Tigers.

Rising through the MI ranks, Lt. Col. Muthaliff was first a central figure in the atrocity-punctuated paramilitary aspects of the counter-insurgency campaign against the LTTE in the early nineties and then had a critical role in the deep penetration attacks on LTTE commanders and officials, press reports said Wednesday.

The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Wednesday acknowledged Lt. Col. Muthaliff as commander of the 1st Battalion, Sri Lanka Army Military Intelligence Corps and hailed his service. Three hundred SLA soldiers escorted his casket to Dehiwela Muslim burial grounds where his funeral was held with full military honours.

"His selfless dedication for defence of his motherland until last moment of his life would no doubt go in the history [sic] as a true Son of the Soil who safeguarded territorial integrity of the country," an SLA statement said.

Born in Trincomalee, Muthaliff began his military career as an officer in the infantry in 1986. He served four years in the Gemunu Watch regiment before being assigned to the intelligence unit "due to special skills shown by him in that field," the Daily Mirror reported.

According to Sri Lankan press reports, Muthaliff was promoted to Lieutenant in 1989, to Captain in June 1992 and to Major in June 1995. He was posthumously promoted to Lieutenant Colonel.

During his career, Muthaliff received special training in intelligence gathering and special operations at military academies and training centres in several countries, including the United States, Pakistan, and Malaysia, the Daily Mirror said.

Much of Muthaliff's early intelligence career was in organising and supervising Tamil paramilitary groups' activities in Sri Lanka's counter-insurgency campaign against the LTTE.

Condemning the human rights abuses that punctuated the Army's paramilitary-led campaign, Amnesty International protested that "such operations have often lead to human rights violations, including illegal arrest, prolonged detention and torture, "disappearances" and extrajudicial executions."

Muthaliff was a central figure in the campaign. He was posted in Vavuniya in the early nineties, during a phase of the conflict which came to be dubbed 'Eelam War 2.' The SLA garrison town became a hub for the activities of the paramilitary groups PLOTE, EPRLF and TELO.

Hundreds of people disappeared after being taken into custody by the paramilitaries, who, according to Amnesty International, operated dozens of camps in the town and its environs.

In particular, Muthaliff's Counter-Subversive Unit (CSU) was implicated in the disappearances of large numbers of detainees in Cheddikulam. The SLA told Amnesty that the paramilitary groups were helping the military in "identifying LTTE infiltrators" and "keeping the security forces informed" and that they did not come under its control.

But many people were handed over to the paramilitaries after being arrested by Sri Lankan security forces personnel. In a related development, the practice of midnight abduction and murder or disappearance by the 'white van' death squads spread rapidly, despite repeated protests by local and international human rights groups calling for official supervision and control of the paramilitaries' activities.

Muthaliff gained notoriety in the "information extraction" process administered by the paramilitaries. He worked closely with the PLOTE's military commander, Manickathasan, under whom that group became infamous for its brutality (Manickathasan was killed, along with several others, in 1999 in a explosion which destroyed the PLOTE headquarters in Vavuniya - the incongruously named 'Lucky House').

Muthaliff was also closely associated with another feared paramilitary leader, PLOTE Mohan, who was shot dead at a safe house in Colombo last year.

Subsequently, Muthaliff became an important member part of a new MI strategy: the targeted killings of LTTE leaders and supporters.

As such, he played a key role in deep penetration attacks for which a dedicated unit - the Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) - was raised. Specially trained commandos of the regular Army were joined with Tamil paramilitary pathfinders and informants to stage ambushes and attacks in LTTE-controlled areas.

LRRP units are credited with important successes in the SLA Operations Jayasikurui, Vanni Wickrema, Ranagosa and Watershed. Under Muthaliff's leadership, the LRRP killed one of the LTTE's top officers, Colonel Shankar (on September 6, 2001) and a senior Sea Tiger commander, Lt. Col. Kangai Amaran (on June 29, 2001).

On May 16, 2001, the LTTE's Political Wing leader, Mr. S. P. Tamilselvan narrowly escaped a claymore mine attack on his convoy whilst on his way to a meeting with Norwegian Special Envoy Erik Solheim.

Amongst other senior officials to narrowly escape being killed were Mr. S. Karikalan, the LTTE's then political wing leader for Batticaloa and later, Colonel Karuna, the LTTE's top commander for Batticaloa-Amparai, whose defection to the SLA in 2004 following his failed rebellion against the LTTE ironically resulted in Muthaliff ending up working with him against his former comrades.

The SLA's deep penetration teams conducted numerous operations into LTTE-controlled territory. A number of civilians who stumbled upon LRRP units were also murdered.

Muthaliff was publicly resentful of the February 2002 ceasefire agreement which the United National Front (UNF) government signed with the LTTE, reporters in Vavuniya say.

Moving around the town, the Army officer was openly contemptuous of the peace process and would openly threaten Tamils involved in organising the Pongu Thamil demonstrations or pro-LTTE political activities.

"How many days will this ceasefire last?" he once reportedly asked protest organisers.

"Wait and see. We have a special building for you in the Joseph camp," he threatened, referring to the SLA's expansive base which has been listed in investigations by the office of the UN's Special Rapporteur on Torture.

Some analysts link Muthaliff's hostility to the UNF government, doubtless reflecting sentiments within the wider deep penetration operations community, to the exposure of the LRRP's headquarters in Millennium City, Athurugiriya in January 2002.

That raid was subsequent to police investigations into allegations in late 2001 that hardline elements of the Sri Lanka military were planning to assassinate the pro-peace UNF's leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe, during his election campaign.

The exposure of the Athurugiriya safe house, from which weapons, claymore mines and LTTE uniforms were recovered by Police officers, triggered a political furore which endured, particularly after a number of the Tamil informants and pathfinders linked to the LRRP were subsequently killed by suspected LTTE attackers.

Muthaliff was deputy commander of the LRRP, which is led by Captain Shahul Hameed Nilan, Tamil correspondents said.

In the wake of the abduction and murder on April 28, 2004 of political columnist and military analyst Dharmeratnam Sivaram, correspondents in Colombo claimed that elements of the deep penetration group had been recently reformed into cells including cadres of the Karuna Group, led by the LTTE commander who defected to the SLA in April 2004.

Four unidentified men who loitered across from the Colombo police station bundled Sivaram into a 4x4 vehicle at 10.30pm. His body was dumped later that night near Sri Lanka's parliament.

Amid persistent speculation that MI and the Karuna Group were involved in Sivaram's killing, there are also claims Muthaliff played key role a week earlier in the capture of a senior LTTE intelligence officer, Newton, who press reports say went missing on the same day that one of Muthaliff's colleagues, a top police intelligence officer, T. Jeyaratnam, also disappeared.

Political analysts see Muthaliff's killing as the latest incident in the ongoing shadow war between Army-backed paramilitaries and the LTTE, a cycle of violence which escalated after April 2004, when loyalists of the renegade LTTE commander Karuna bolstered the ranks of the paramilitary units.

However, the successful counterattacks blamed in the same period on the LTTE suggests that the influx of new members has also enabled the LTTE's infiltration of the Sri Lankan military's paramilitary network, they say.